Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with blisters

Do I need new feet?

Nattie — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 01:58:51 -0800

Why do all shoes give me blisters, even when I take every precaution to prevent it? I'm getting pretty frustrated with trying to buy shoes ever. My problem is that without fail, any pair of new shoes will give me blisters. The way I have dealt with this is by simply suffering through the blisters until I get thick callouses on whatever part of my feet that particular shoe wants to blister, but every time I get new shoes (which is rare) they blister some other, new part. I get blisters on the bottom of my feet, on the sides of my feet, on my toes, on all parts of my heel... you name it, it'll blister.

I'm getting very tired of this, and I don't know what to do about it. I have to suffer for literally months before I can wear a pair of shoes without considerable pain and some bleeding. I can wear a pair of shoes for one day and then I have to switch over to a pair I've already broken in so my wounds don't get irritated and infected.

I'm finally asking this question because I wanted to start walking daily but my old sneakers are completely unusable. I got new ones, but I can't walk every day because of the damn blisters.

- It does not matter if I buy men's shoes (I am female) or women's shoes.

- I do not wear heeled shoes, or strappy shoes, or any other torture contraptions they sell in the women's department that I would expect to give me blisters. I wear loafers or sneakers, and occassionally a pair of Tevas. (The Tevas gave me a blister on the back of my heel, even. Seriously.)

- It does not matter if I spend an hour trying on all sizes, with the help of sales associates, to make sure I get a proper fit. This past week I went into a Puma store to get running shoes, and the associate was very patient, knowledgeable, and helpful. The shoes seemed to fit alright in the store, but when I went to actually use them, I have horrible blisters. I can hardly walk in them, much less run. I already returned two pairs of shoes because of this, now I've given up.

- I don't have particularly weird feet or anything, or at least as far as I can tell. I'm a size 8 in women's (U.S. sizes). When I have gotten blisters I have tried getting both larger and smaller shoes of the same styles -- I just end up with blisters in slightly different places.

I have tried the following:
- Putting band-aids or cloth over where the shoe wants to blister me. This makes no difference, because it just rubs the bandaid/cloth against it.
- Wearing different kinds of socks, different thickness, different material, etc. Doesn't matter: blisters.

I have literally never found a pair of shoes that does not give me blisters. Flip-flops give me blisters. Sandals give me blisters. It's ridiculous.

Does anyone else have this problem? Any idea what causes this or what I can do about it? Is it just how my skin is? I used to think that most people had this problem, but my husband can wear any shoes at all and his feet have no callouses whatsoever. Then some people wear different shoes all the time and I don't see them limping around like I have to. Is there something I haven't considered? Is there a person I can go to who will fix this?

Gussy up my feet for summer.

PhoBWanKenobi — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 10:52:34 -0800

Are there any sandals as comfortable as Chacos but . . . well, cute? I live in Central Florida and I walk an average of 2 miles a day. Thanks to the climate here, my feet develop blisters really, really easily--most strappy sandals are a disaster, as are most flip-flops (because I get blisters between my toes, to boot). Last summer, my sister gave me a pair of her old Chacos and they were a god-send; I've yet to get a single blister in them, ever.

But they've started to get pretty smelly, and I've been lusting over the strappy leather kind of Roman-looking sandals I've been seeing a lot of this season. But, man, just looking at them makes my feet hurt.

I have a few other restrictions on shoe selection: I strongly prefer leather sandals with ankle straps and I am totally, completely incapable of walking in heels of just about any height. The Dansko Sissy linked on today's cankle question are cute, but I'm even skeptical about my ability to walk in heels that are that high. And because I'm a starving, soon-to-be-unemployed graduate student, I'd like to spend under a hundred dollars on them. In fact, the cheaper the better though, since I'll live in a comfortable pair of sandals, if they really fit the bill I'll be willing to pay a bit more than I normally would.

So how about it, hivemind? Do cute, truly comfortable leather walking sandals exist?

Save my feet from blisters

Tomorrowful — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:24:49 -0800

[GrossFootStuffFilter] I just started walking (a lot more than I used to) and I'm constantly developing blisters all over my toes. Help! Just switched from a Suburban, drive-everywhere lifestyle to an urban, walk-with-occasional-subways one. My (New Balance 811) shoes never bothered me before... but now that I'm walking 2-4 miles a day, I'm getting painful blisters - nearly all of them where skin rubs against skin, not against sock/shoe.

It's even stranger because with shoes that fit pretty much the same, (also NB, different model) back when I was in college, I walked just as much (or more!) with no ill effects. I can wiggle my toes around in the shoes; they've got a breathable mesh and are meant for running (though I never run, just walk.)

I've never had to pay attention to my feet before, so this is both weird and frustrating - please help me stop getting blisters, both in the short-term and long. What might be different about my current shoes compared to my old ones?

Is it a good idea to use superglue for covering a popped blister?

waxboy — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 09:58:58 -0800

Is it a good idea to use superglue for covering a popped blister? I'm a drummer, and from time to time I get a wicked blister at the base of my index finger. A friend told me that Flea used to use superglue as a quick fix for blisters on stage, and this sounds reasonable enough. Of course, I don't know squat about biochem. Is there any reason why I wouldn't want to use this stuff to replace missing skin?

Aye, there's the rub.

oflinkey — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 21:11:37 -0800

Shoe issues-- My Earth shoes are ripping my feet apart. I have these shoes. I love them but the backs of the shoe keep biting into my upper heel. The problem appears to be the back edge; specifically not the heel cup but the very back lip. I've worn them 4 times and all 4 times I get a blister on my upper heel. I have tried moleskin to no luck. I would rather not have to rid myself of these shoes as they were a bit pricey and I like the style quite a bit. Any suggestions?

Please god help my blistered feet

sergeant sandwich — Tue, 08 May 2007 17:42:04 -0800

How do I stop getting these huge blisters on my feet whenever I do certain sports? I just got home from an hour of basketball and once again have large, hurty blisters on both feet! This happens to me anytime I do any kind of sport that requires rapid lateral changes of direction, such as basketball, soccer, football etc.

They are always large (quarter-sized or so), in the same spot (along the inner edge of the ball of my feet), and on both feet. I can feel it when they form -- I plant and change direction, and it feels like the top layer of skin is kind of shearing off the underlying layers. yuck.

I've tried a lot of the recommended treatments for foot blisters like double socks and taping the spot but haven't had any luck. It happens with a lot of different kinds of shoes (general cross-trainers, soccer cleats, running shoes, etc.) I almost never get blisters when walking or jogging, just during these explosive type starts and stops.

One thing that may conceivably be an issue is my weight; I am about 225 lbs, 5'10", but I still had the exact same problem a few years ago when i was 35 lbs lighter and a lot more fit. So I kind of suspect it's not that, but I'm open to thoughts on the matter.

Anyone had this kind of trouble? What helped? A certain kind of shoe? Smaller shoes? Inserts of some kind? Just gritting your teeth and doing it a lot til you get calloused? (I've tried that, they pop and then i get new blisters underneath the old ones... boo).

Failing that, anyone know one of those really good shoe stores in Toronto where the foot gurus can look at how I run and have some insight?

What is this rash and why did it spread to my weiner?

tumbleweedjack — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 16:15:33 -0800

So I had this strange rash on my hands- clusters of tiny little blisters, in between my fingers, on my palm, and anywhere where there's a crease. It's pretty persistent but after two months it has mostly gone away- except it jumped off my hands and went a little bit... downtown. So now I have a big lump on the shaft of my penis and my penis head has small red spots, but no blisters.

Doctor Dad said (before it spread) that it wasn't scabes, and that it probably wasn't anything. Doctor Dad is also known to think it's 'nothing' when it's something (no dad, it's not just gas, I'm pretty sure I have appendicitis), so I'm not sure.

Considering that it's mostly gone on my hands, should I just wait it out on my penis? Or do I HAVE to see a doctor? And do I need to see any particular kind of doctor, or just go to a walk in clinic? What could this possibly be?

Oh, and I'm pretty sure it's not an STD, because I'm not getting any.

Blistery Birkenstocks

elphTeq — Tue, 08 Feb 2005 19:27:30 -0800

PodiaFilter: I am off to SE Asia for extended holiday in less than a week. I bought some birkenstock sandals for the journey as recommended. However, being spoilt rotten by sneaker snugness, I am getting some serious blistering across the tops of the inner sides of my feet after but one day in the saddle. Any tips to toughen my feet up before departure, or have i left it too late? Any lateral band-aid solutions?

It Burns!

furiousxgeorge — Tue, 04 Jan 2005 17:02:32 -0800

What do you do if you have 2nd degree burns in your mouth?

Chafing

tomble — Mon, 13 Dec 2004 03:04:52 -0800

Joggers, Hikers and Marathon walkers, your attention please! I love to walk, but experience troubles with chafing. For particularly long walks (5 hours and beyond), I used to use a product called Chafe Eez, manufactured by a now apparently defunct company called Second Wind. [more inside] This product was a thick cream in a squeeze bottle. For chafing (toes, thighs, anything that rubs) it provided not only some relief, but also was an excellent long lasting skin lubricant. A healthy blob of it would last all day, and it had a pleasant smell to it.

Now, sadly, it seems to be unavailable. I've tried a product called `Bodyglide', which seems quite good and gets glowing reviews, but is not really right for me.

Does anyone either know if Chafe Eez is available somewhere, or have a home made variant that works for them?

(My first post to MeFi! How exciting!)

Tricks and tips for quickly breaking in a new pair of Doc Martens.

Katemonkey — Thu, 23 Sep 2004 11:24:09 -0800

Tricks and tips for quickly breaking in a new pair of Doc Martens. Love the boots, am crying from the blisters on my heels.

Hiking with blisters suggestions?

troutfishing — Wed, 01 Sep 2004 06:30:16 -0800

Hiking with blisters. Beyond Moleskin, does anyone have any advice regarding cutting edge solutions which enable hikers to protect blisters that have developed into full-out open sores ?

Blisters

jmd82 — Thu, 08 Jul 2004 10:58:56 -0800

I have a huge problem with buying shoes that feel fine in the 10-second walk around but give me mad heel blisters after walking for 5 minutes. The shoe continously rubs up and the back of my heel/achille's tendon area. Anyone have similar problems and/or know of a remedy? Certain socks, tie your shoes a certain way. something you can buy- I'm all ears (beyond returning them or just not wearing them).